This page explains how the prices on WhatsTheCost.in are produced, what each label means, how often we re-check them and how we correct mistakes. We publish cost information for education. It is not medical advice and not a recommendation of any hospital.
Where we are today
In October 2026 we audited every guide on the site. We found that many older guides showed hospital-by-hospital prices produced by a pricing model rather than taken from published rates, a “success rate” column that did not come from outcome data, and a “cheapest” label that was not always on the lowest price. We removed those elements and began rebuilding guides on published tariffs, starting with the 30 most-visited pages. Rebuilt guides show a “Prices & sources” box with a last-checked date. Guides that have not been rebuilt yet carry a note saying their prices are estimates.
How a rebuilt guide is priced
- Define the test or procedure. Each guide prices one clearly stated base version (for example “a plain MRI of one region” or “a laparoscopic cholecystectomy”), because variants differ more than hospitals do.
- Government rate first. We look for the published schedule of charges of the main government hospitals in the city, then state orders and government diagnostic schemes.
- Official benchmarks. We add the CGHS rate for the city’s tier (rate list dated 3 October 2025), PM-JAY package rates where the procedure has one, and NPPA ceiling prices for price-controlled devices such as stents and knee implants.
- Private prices where published. We record prices that providers publish on their own websites. Prices on third-party booking platforms are recorded as Quotes.
- Estimates only where nothing is published. If a hospital publishes nothing, we say so. Any estimate is labelled on the page and its basis is written next to it.
- Record everything. Every figure is stored with its source name, link, document date, the date we checked it and its label. The page is generated from that record, so the page cannot show a number we have not recorded.
How estimates are made
- Private range: we start from our previous modelled range for the base test. We keep it only if it is internally consistent and every published or quoted private price we found in that city falls inside it. Otherwise we widen it to include those prices, or re-base its floor where it was implausibly below the government rate and at least two private prices show where the market starts.
- Government hospital that publishes nothing: we show the range of charges for the same test published by other government hospitals, name those hospitals, and label the figure Estimate. We never reuse a fixed number across cities.
- “Lowest listed price”: this label goes on the row with the lowest actual price in the table (a published tariff or a quote). If no row has an actual price, no row gets the label. Government rows are tagged “Subsidised, longer wait” so the trade-off is clear.
How often we re-check
- Our most-visited guides: every three months.
- All rebuilt guides: at least every six months.
- Immediately when a source changes: a new CGHS rate list, the annual NPPA stent revision each April, the NPPA knee-implant order (currently extended to 15 November 2026) or a hospital publishing a new schedule.
Corrections
If a figure is wrong or out of date, tell us through our contact page with a link or a photo of the official rate if you have one. We aim to review every report within seven days. When we change a figure we update the source record and the page’s last-checked date, and if the change is material we add a dated correction note to the page.
What our figures are not
They are not quotes and they cannot account for your medical situation. Government charges often exclude medicines, consumables and implants, and private hospitals price by room category and case complexity. Always get a written, itemised estimate from the facility, and ask a qualified doctor which test or treatment you need.
Independence
No hospital, clinic or laboratory pays to appear on WhatsTheCost.in or influences the figures we publish. The documents we rely on are listed on our data sources page.